If Burning Man ain’t your thing, cool. Find your own bliss. But why you have chosen to parade your ignorance in front of several million netizens?
Her’s one teeny-tiny example among many of “anything interesting or cool coming out of it”
http://www.sftreasureisland.org/index.aspx?page=447
Love,
Tophat
I never said anything about it being “shitty”. It sounds fun, actually, though I’d rather do a much smaller event (like Firefly). But it’s still just a party in the desert. As someone who has spent a lot of time doing real work in the real world (volunteering, REAL protests, etc), I just find this attitude that some party in the desert as important and life changing as a bit silly, pretentious, and, well, quite privileged.
Connecting with people is fun times and great, but it’s not necessarily going to change the world.
It’s not that you guys want to go have fun in the desert. It’s the attitude that often comes with it. Like this “outlaw” bullshit. Please. It’s a big party in the desert with a big ass burning figure that can be seen from space. Nothing “outlaw” about that.
And thanks for the info, btw; I’m glad that they are raising money for good causes. That is, indeed, a good thing.
Like I said, it’s mostly the pretentious attitude that comes with it, and as if just “anyone” can go to burning man and enjoy it – when in reality, it’s really expensive and not really an experience the near majority of people are going to be able to afford (both money AND time).
In fact, every single one of these events (including Firefly) is pretty damn expensive.
I have a LOT of friends who are super into this scene, and mostly I’m just tired of the huge amount of emphasis and effort they put on music festivals.
I really hate 'bragging" but I have done a lot of volunteering and protesting in my time – real, hard effort – and it just bugs the shit out of me that so many people are having a party in the desert instead of getting real work done.
Of course ,the money raised is important, and that’s good, but I don’t know if I think it’s enough to justify the event. Not that the event needs to be justified – go have fun! – but it would be nice if people would stop pretending like it’s a BIG HUGE AMAZING WONDERFUL WORLD CHANGING!!! deal. When mostly, it’s just people getting together to have a good time in the desert.
The money raised? Just an after-thought, rather than the actual focus. So, it’s nice, but still seems rather lopsided considering all the attention BM gets.
That’s crazy talk. Increasing the scope or sway of oppression does not constitute some kind of authenticity test: it’s just more oppression. Whatever one feels about Burning Man, I’d think any self-respecting progressive-counterculture type (or, phrased negatively, a not-a-pig type) would want more kinds of autonomous zones such as this. One can be a to-the-barricades insurgent, or one can be a more casual one: they aren’t mutually exclusive. Sometimes you fight, sometimes you politick, sometimes you pretend, as in, joyfully create for yourself the kind of world you want to be in, right now, without intermediaries, without permission from either the pigs or concern trolls. Cf. Thoreau on huckleberry parties.
Sigh.
Or maybe people at Burning Man shouldn’t urinate in public.
And buying a ticket to Burning Man doesn’t exempt you from needing to register your automobile.
Don’t blame the “pigs” for people being reckless and irresponsible.
When you travel to certain other parts of the world, you realize how little freedom we Americans have at home. We think we’re free, but then try to take a bag into a football game, or try to have a beer at the beach.
With real freedom comes the possibility of real danger, and that’s why the government protects its citizens from it, because most people would rather be safe (hello, NSA) than deal with real freedom.
Who knows what depravities might ensue if we let people get away with peeing outdoors at a private party in the desert 50 miles from anywhere.
(And seriously, “p***”? What is this, grade school? The word is “piss”. If you can’t bear the notion of spelling it out, use a different word.)
That’s assuming the NSA can/does keep us safe… Security Theater, much? 
Is the land privately owned? Hmmm I’m not sure about that, now that I think about it. If it’s public land, then, no, people shouldn’t be free to piss and shit wherever they please. And while piss is probably not going to cause much harm, shit laying about in the hot desert? Can and does.
And do you REALLLLLLLYYYYY want to walk around a party in the DESERT where people have been freely pissing? Let me tell you: No, no you do not. Most people don’t. Icky!
Piss where appropriate. As someone who grew up camping, you can easily find a place to piss while not causing a mess and stinking up the place. Don’t be an asshole.
(Seriously, I can’t believe someone is trying to defend assholes randomly pissing anywhere they please. People will defend ANYTHING.)
I would not want to attend a party in Piss Desert, no.
I would not want to attend a party with law enforcement in attendance in any capacity by a factor of millions millions more. Especially if said attendance were for bad-at-best reasons, and if said attendance carried with it the potential for false and potentially life-destroying charges such as those mentioned above.
One party potentially ruins one’s shoes. One party potentially ruins one’s life.
Hope that helps!
Who owns the land that BM is held on? I need to do some googling.
Do they have their own security on scene, do you know? Burning Man security? Doesn’t have to be cops, but I would hope there is some sort of security presence.
That’s nice. We’re not talking about hypothetical desert-pooping. We’re talking about actual desert-peeing, specifically desert-peeing at an explicitly clothing-optional private event that was punished with a $275 fine and the threat of a sex-crime conviction.
How do you know this guy didn’t? Tastefully walking a few hundred feet from the nearest travelled area doesn’t help when there’s busybodies on the lookout for any excuse to issue a fine.
The United States was not founded on the idea that freedom meant that anyone could do anything they wanted. Limited essential freedom has been the name of the game from day one. You get the freedom of expression, the freedom to assemble peacefully and the freedom of religion. Everything else is up for grabs.
Unless you live on your own island, your freedom is constrained. That does not mean you are not free. It means you live in society.
Maybe the police are there to keep it fun and safe for everyone? I’ve not been to Burning Man, but I’ve been to other camp-out type music festivals and there was a strong police presence. But it wasn’t to ruin anyone’s reasonable good time. It was to protect everyone else’s good time. They weren’t busting people for being drunk or being high or being possession of illegal drugs or a little brief nudity or mild lude conduct or any of the other expected rock concert/huge party for adults shenanigans. They were there to deter the folks doing things that would make it less fun for everyone else, the ones who wanted to fight, the disorderly in a super annoying way, the ones that were a serious danger to themselves and others with their wild conduct,etc. and most especially the ones who would intentionally prey on the other attendees like the thieves who would break into cars or campsites or people that might take advantage of the chemically impaired or might perpetrate violent or sex crimes.
The crime mentioned that they already ticketed in the article seems to me to be in line with the idea of keeping it cool for everyone. Few would want to spend the festival surrounded by the muck and stench of people just relieving themselves wherever the notion strikes them to. That kind of enforcement seems to me well within the “have fun but be respectful of your fellow festival goers” kind of enforcement. When your concert event is the size of regular town, you’ve got to have some real protection to keep that whole temporary community functional as a community. Just like a real town, most folks are cool, but there’s always a few bad eggs that don’t get it or don’t care or actively want to do bad stuff.
Totally agree about the theater.
It means you live under the control of a government. FTFY.
I define my ‘society’ as the people around me I interact with through the course of my life. I never have a problem with any of them or feel they restrict my freedom in any way. The only individuals who disrupt the basic harmony of the society I live in do so under color of government.
Defining our horrid political system as ‘just society’ is intellectually dishonest to the point of absurdity.
“Hey, don’t like the Stalinist purges? That’s just the cost of living in society!”
Remind me not to go barefoot anywhere near you. in case you are exercising this particular “freedom” you seem fond of.
Fouling one’s neighborhood is the mark (literally) of stupidity. Disease, stench and vermin come to mind as to why one would wish to use a real toilet as opposed to any handy patch of ground for one’s personal pleasure.
Freedom entails responsibility. Even in places where being drunk, stoned or otherwise voluntarily insane is acceptable behavior.
Also, I get the impression this is public land…thus the BLM presence? Held in trust for everyone, not just those who enjoy free-form urinating.
Oh and grade schoolers are more likely to use the short and ugly words, some of us see no reason to do so as we are no longer in grade school. Vulgar words are for vulgar people.
And hyperbole is for the easily led. Vermin… really?
Okay, I thought the defense of pissing in public on PUBLIC LAND was a little silly, but man oh man, you need to back up just a tad bit.
And what amusingly childish term do you prefer for swarms of flies, roaches etc attracted to waste products? As I may have said: Adults use grown-up words.
